Exterior Future
by UnendingEmpire
Summary: What is this place? Neither Reimu nor Sanae could recognize it, but surely incidents are about. Time to resolve.


**I try updating my Parsee fanfic, I try starting one of two that star Sanae, I even try starting one that stars a yandere Youmu! Aaand I wind up starting this instead XD**

**Interesting story to how I wound up starting this one. But guess what? I forgot it! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Seriously, I wish I knew how I got the idea to do this fanfic, but it's quite a ways from my usual style so I'm not sure how good I did on the first chapter. It's far from my usual for three reasons.**

**First and foremost, this story doesn't take place in Gensokyo, which is already awkward enough for me.**

**Secondly, out of all the characters that will be appearing here, only two of them are Touhou characters. The rest will be a large OC cast, but you can bet that a few are inspired by other video game/anime characters.**

**Third, Reimu is actually a main character! :O**

**Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy this newest in a series of stories that pop out of my head and onto the computer screen.**

* * *

Summer in Gensokyo. Despite summer usually being the season for incidents, or perhaps because of it, it was a peaceful time in Gensokyo when the sun hung high and hot, and plenty of summer insects could be heard in the air. It was common knowledge that whenever there _was_ an incident, however, there were two shrines, and both the shrine maidens were always ready to resolve an incident at a moment's notice. However, this time there would be no notice at all…

* * *

**Hakurei Shrine****…**

"Today's pretty calm," Reimu said, taking a sip of tea. She'd made it herself, out of some of the finest ingredients (that she could afford) in Gensokyo, so it was pretty good. Sitting across the table from her was Gensokyo's prime oni and number-one freeloader, Suika Ibuki. "So, why are you here again?"

"Cuz," Suika drunkenly started, the purple gourd of endless alcohol sitting faithfully in front of her. "Nothing fun's happening, and interesting things happen at shrines. Besides, Yukari comes by a lot, so I may run into her too."

"If you're staying here, I hope you don't."

_(Unconventional SFX: GAP!)_

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine****…**

"There's no incidents," Sanae said in boredom. "That means no youkai that _really_ have to be exterminated."

_GAP!_

* * *

**Somewhere unfamiliar to both Reimu and Sanae****…**

_THU-THUD!_ Two shrine maidens landed hard on paved roads. Such roads did not exist in Gensokyo. Sanae was able to rule it out quickly, and her bet was that she was now in the outside world. But…the buildings here were too decayed to be near any human civilization. Where had Yukari dumped her at?

"Gmm nmhm fm!"

"Huh?" Sanae looked under her rear to the source of the angry muffle-shouting. Reimu? She was here too? Quickly getting up to her feet, Sanae had the feeling she was about to receive a yin-yang orb to the face. "S-Sorry…"

"This road tastes like shit," Reimu said. "And roads like this aren't in Gensokyo. Care to explain yourself?"

"H-Hey, don't point the finger at me! Yukari gapped us here, for all I can tell, but I'm not really sure where we are…" The whole scene looked like something out of a dark sci-fi manga. The buildings were decaying and ruined, and looked about ready to topple over, and there wasn't a soul in sight. In fact, it reminded Sanae of an American movie she'd watched once. She couldn't recall the name or the actors since her memory on Western things usually left much to be desired, but it was creepy how nobody besides herself and Reimu were anywhere in sight. Were they alone?

_SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIEK!_ It had to be the most horrendous sound either of them had ever heard. It was certainly the sound of some sort of animal, but its voice sounded like a razor-sharp steel nail being driven across a chalkboard, with a rusty engine powering a poorly-built machine to keep that nail moving. Just the sound of it made the skin of the two crawl, it made their blood curdle…why couldn't they move? Were they paralyzed?

"Reimu?"

"I dunno either."

_BANG! _Sanae recognized that sound at least, and she was also relieved to see that she could move again. It was a gunshot, fired by another, less horrifying shriek. Turning around to face whoever or…whatever had been shot, a look of surprise crossed Sanae's face. Whoever they were, they seemed human enough. At least, until one got a good look at their snow-white complexion, bright red eyes, thin hair, and razor-sharp teeth. "Youkai?"

"Youkai," Reimu agreed.

"Totally a youkai." So was this some bizarre alternate Gensokyo that the two hadn't seen before? One with technology to rival the outside world's? But then why was it like this?

"You must be stupid or something," a seemingly irritated voice scolded. Probably whoever shot the gun. The gaze of two sets of eyes shifted to the voice to see that she was indeed the one with the gun. Judging by her looks, she couldn't have been five or six years older than either Reimu or Sanae, but her eyes spoke of true adulthood. On the lower half of her face was some kind of mask covering her mouth and nose. Sanae recognized it as a gas mask; the kind that didn't cover the eyes.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you have a death wish or something? You're lucky I was around to save you when I did, or you'd be Freak-chow by now."

"Freak-chow?"

"Yeah, you know, chow for Freaks? You become its snack and you're never heard from again, the only proof of your existence remaining being your half-eaten skeleton? You kids can't tell me that you've _never_ seen above."

"You're confusing us," Sanae said apologetically. "We're not from around here, and it's a really long story about how we got here."

"With the whole world out of commission for five years, you still have to at least know what I'm talking about when I say Freaks. The only way you couldn't is if you were from a different world completely! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"…"

"Don't tell me…"

"Yep."

"…well, fuck me." Reaching for what looked like a small radio strapped to the side of her belt, this gun-brandishing girl said into it "Tori, I got it. It was just a Goblin; you'd better make sure that radar of yours isn't broken or something."

"I _did_ pick up a strange reading from there," a slightly more feminine voice said over the line. "But I meant to tell you it vanished almost as fast as it popped up."

"Yeah, cuz I _totally_ can't be bothered. Anyway, come pick me up. We've also got two girls here who have no idea what the hell's been going on here, and they say they're from this other world or something."

"You've got it."

"Right, then." Looking back at Reimu and Sanae, the could-be soldier girl asked "So, other-world people, what are your names?"

"O-Our names," Sanae asked.

"Yeah. You know, what your parents decided to call you at birth? Mine's Eri. No last name."

"Sanae Kochiya," the green-haired miko introduced herself as.

"And I'm Reimu Hakurei," her red-clothed counterpart added. "So then, Eri, I think you've got quite a bit of explaining to do."

"I'll get to that part," Eri promised. "But first, let's get somewhere safe." Looking up to the sky as a shadow cast over the three, she waved up to a massive piece of metal in the sky, with a number of glowing bulbs on the bottom. The exterior looked kind of patched-up, like it had seen lots of action and taken plenty of beatings, but it didn't show any signs of being ready to give in just yet. "That's our ship. The NEFE flagship, Aero Terra!"

"NEFE?"

"New Earth Freak Extermination. Call us a rebellion if you want," Eri said as three ladders rolled down to the ground, each girl climbing up one. As they did, Eri continued "We task ourselves with exterminating all Freaks the world over. We've been all over the world thanks to good ol' Aero Terra here, and she's yet to let us down."

"Oh, who was that girl you were talking to on the radio?"

"Tori? She's the NEFE's head technician. She's young, but I'll be damned if there's any one person on the team smarter than she is. She designed the whole ship herself, and pretty much every gadget we've got at our disposal. I'll be sure to introduce her to the two of you, since she can probably explain the whole Freak deal better than I can." Once the two were inside the ship - the Aero Terra as Eri had called it - the short-time savior said "Just ask around for where Tori's at. I need to get some rest; I've been at it for a week nonstop." And she didn't even look tired. "Oh, and when you're done with her, make sure I told her to have you see me. You don't look like much, but you have that kind of air about you, like you could be useful in the NEFE."

"Sure thing," Reimu said, watching the girl head off. Once Reimu was certain Eri was out of earshot, she couldn't help but say "Man, what a nutcase."

"Hey, she saved our lives! Maybe we should be a little more appreciative."

"I call 'em as I see 'em, and I see Eri as crazy. Anyway, we should probably find this Tori girl so we can learn just what Yukari threw us into."

* * *

**One long search later****…**

"They said this was it," Sanae said, looking at the metal door in front of them. As far as they'd been able to tell, all the doors here were automatic, but this one wasn't opening for some reason. It _did_ say TECH ROOM above it in big letters, so why was the tech room of all places having technical difficulties with their doors? "Any ideas, Reimu?"

"You're the science whiz between us, Sanae. Not all humans grew up with outside world technology."

"Even _I_ never saw this much technology before," the green-haired miko said, a little upset and a little joyous. "It's like we're in a whole different world from Gensokyo _or_ the outside world."

"The hell with this," Reimu said, stepping up to the door. _BANG, BANG, BANG!_ "Oi," the red-white miko shouted. "Open up in there!"

_SHICK!_ Just like that, the door opened. The lights were all out, the only light in the room being provided by a bright screen in front of the only occupant in the room. This must have been Tori. "You don't have to shout and bang on the door," she said. "Come on in." Turning the chair she sat in around, the girl hit a button on the desk that surrounded her on three sides, causing the room to burst into light. Now her features were all clear. Bright blonde hair just shorter than waist-length, radiant blue eyes…she didn't _look_ like a technician.

"You must be Tori."

"And you must be the two that may or may not have come from a different world. Have a seat. I think we all have some explaining to do."

"You first," Reimu insisted. "Our story is complicated and all, but I'd like to know what the hell I was just tossed into."

"Oh, alright." Tori held out two folding steel chairs, and said "You may wanna sit down. This could take a while."

* * *

**One chapter in and already I've got the hots for Tori. I'm a hopeless romantic sometimes. Which is pretty ironic given the distinct lack of romance in my fics.**

**Anyway, for how I'm envisioning Tori's appearance, safebooru users can search the "drill" and "original" tags, and you'll probably know her when you see her. The one surrounded by all the machinery.**

**Eri's is still under debate, but I know the gas mask she had when she first appeared won't be a usual thing if she's in Aero Terra. So instead of an idea of her appearance, I'll give you a bit of trivia about Eri.**

**Eri the NEFE member was based off an earlier OC also named Eri, who was a ninja. Eri the ninja's last name was Kazami (yes, after Yuka) so I removed the last name this time because I couldn't think of one I liked.**

**Also, this is TOTALLY unrelated to anything, but me naming those creatures Freaks is totally not a rip-off of Crackdown. At all. Nuh-uh. Not a chance.**

**I'm gonna stfu now.**


End file.
